Report: Photo Copies Increase Security Risks

A fair number of senior executives today are still a bit careless about how they handle and dispose duplicate documents after making photo copies of sensitive company information. In fact, some of these oversights are resulting in intelligence leaks says eCopy.

For their latest study, ‘Effective data protection – reality and risks,’ eCopy, a company that deals in Multi Function Printer (MFP) document imaging software, said that it interviewed more than a 100 key senior executives, operational and administrative staff from the public, private and voluntary sectors in an effort to get a feel of current business practices and how organizations manage their data, including its reproduction, storage and disposal.

A significant number of respondents admitted that they themselves make copies of documents that contain personal and sensitive information, of which 50 percent include letters of correspondence, 47 percent financial information, 34 percent include identification criteria, and 30 percent include legal documents.

“The research highlights a need for improved organizational procedures to govern copying of sensitive documentation, its storage and disposal after use,” said Simon Hill, Sales Director for U.K. and Ireland, eCopy. “Document management and document imaging solutions provide secure document capture, storage and disposal practices which help to protect against online fraud and ID theft.”

The market analysis revealed that 70 percent of respondents claimed their company still makes paper copies of original documents; 15 percent of respondents say this practice is a matter of non-negotiable routine; and, 18 percent of respondents said they first produce a paper copy and then convert it into an electronic document.

“The best solution to capture and protect sensitive data is to introduce it into a secure electronic workflow directly from the input device, either a scanner or an MFP, from where the user can protect and control who gets to view, edit or print the scanned document,” said Hill. “In this way organizations can minimize potential failures in following business processes by enabling Intelligent Document Routing.”

eCopy says that while almost 70 percent of respondents understand the importance of shredding copies, 22 percent recycle the paper, and three percent simply throw papers into bins without even tearing them up.

“Intuitive document imaging solutions like eCopy ShareScan eliminates the need to create paper copies and the increased risk of fraud when disposing of them,” said Hill. “They also improve productivity and enforce better compliance through comprehensive audit trails. In addition, they increase return on investment of additional solutions, as well as that of existing infrastructure and software, including multi function printers.”